The State Department special agent accused of fatally shooting a man at a McDonald’s restaurant in Waikiki in November claims he was performing his duties as a federal law enforcement officer and is therefore immune from prosecution under state law, according to records filed in the case this week.
Christopher Deedy, 28, is scheduled to stand trial in state court for murder in September.
However, his lawyer, Brook Hart, filed legal papers seeking to dismiss the case or to at least delay his trial. Hart filed the documents Monday detailing Deedy’s version of the events that culminated in the Nov. 5 fatal shooting of Kollin Elderts, 23, and the reasons Deedy believes he should not be prosecuted.
Circuit Judge Karen Ahn, who is presiding over the case, is not releasing the documents.
Hart says Deedy was in Honolulu as a federal law enforcement officer on an official State Department assignment with the power of arrest and the right to carry a firearm.
The State Department said Deedy was in Hawaii as a member of its Bureau of Diplomatic Security to provide security for leaders attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference.
Deedy has claimed in previously filed documents that he was defending himself and his friend Adam Gutowski when he shot Elderts. He submitted a report from the doctor who treated him at the Queen’s Medical Center after his arrest.
The report from Dr. Kyle Perry says Deedy had scrapes and a broken nose from an assault.
Gutowski also received medical treatment after the shooting. He has submitted papers authorizing the release of his medical reports.
Ahn is scheduled to hear arguments in July on Deedy’s immunity claim, his request to delay the trial, and a second request for a dismissal contending that grand jury proceedings in the case were defective.
As a matter of course, the defense received a video of the proceedings, which shows a prosecutor and police detective describing events as they unfold on a McDonald’s surveillance video. The video was played to the grand jury on a television, but the video of the proceedings does not show the TV screen, leaving doubt as to whom and what the prosecutor and officer are talking about, Deedy claims.
Police said Deedy shot Elderts in the chest after an argument. When officers arrived at the restaurant Deedy and Elderts were both covered in blood. The officers said Deedy told them he had a gun and had shot Elderts. Deedy also said he had a pocketknife, which police recovered in the restaurant. Officers also noted that Deedy had red, glassy eyes and slurred speech.
It was Deedy who started the fight by kicking Elderts in the chest, said lawyer Michael Green, who is representing Elderts’ parents in their lawsuit against Deedy.
According to an autopsy, Elderts had abrasions from gunpowder on the right side of his face, a blood alcohol content of 0.127 and traces of the active ingredient in marijuana and cocaine in his system.
